AFRICA WORLD BRIEFS

The UN Secretary-General on Monday welcomed the temporary relocation of hundreds of staff members and their families from the Sudanese capital Khartoum, amid the continuing intense fighting between rival military factions which has now entered its second week.

Speaking in the UN Security Council, António Guterres said: “Let me be clear: the United Nations is not leaving Sudan. Our commitment is to the Sudanese people, in support of their wishes for a peaceful and secure future. We stand with them, at this terrible time.”

In blunt terms, he said the violence must stop, now. “It risks a catastrophic conflagration within Sudan, that could engulf the whole region and beyond.”

In a statement issued earlier by his Spokesperson, António Guterres said the relocation exercise had been carried out “without incident”, adding that he appreciated the cooperation shown by Sudanese army personnel and paramilitaries from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), allowing safe passage to Port Sudan, on the Red Sea.

“The Secretary-General reiterates his call on the parties to immediately cease hostilities and allow all civilians to evacuate from areas affected by the fighting.”

Mr. Guterres affirmed “the continued dedication” of the whole UN system, “to stand with, and work for, the Sudanese people, in support of their wishes for a peaceful, secure future and a return to the democratic transition.”

In April 1994, a sinister call was broadcast over radio stations across Rwanda, triggering the start of 100 days of genocide that left more than one million people dead. Henriette Mutegwaraba heard that call.

“Every time I talk about it, I cry,” she told UN News, describing how propaganda spread messages of hate that sparked a deadly wave of unspeakable violence. She lost 60 family members and friends in the mass slaughter.

Ahead of the UN General Assembly’s commemoration of the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Ms. Mutegwaraba spoke with UN News about hate speech in the digital age, how the 6 January attack on the United States Capitol triggered deep-seated fear, how she survived the genocide, and how she explained the events that she lived through, to her own daughter.

The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

UN News: In April 1994, a call was put out over the radio in Rwanda. What did it say, and how did you feel?

Henriette Mutegwaraba: It was terrifying. A lot of people think the killing started in April, but beginning in the 1990s, the Government put it out there, in the media, newspapers, and radio, encouraging and preaching anti-Tutsi propaganda. In 1994, they were encouraging everyone to go to every home, hunt them down, kill kids, kill women. For a long

India poised to become world’s most populous nation

India is about to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation in the coming days, the UN population data chief told reporters on Monday.

The main driver of these trends is the fertility level in the two nations, said John Wilmoth, Director of the UN Population Division. Together, China and India’s collective populations equal more than one third of the world’s eight billion citizens.

By the end of April, India’s population is expected to reach 1,425,775,850 people, with projections indicating further growth for several decades more, the UN said.

That’s slightly higher than China’s global record of 1.4 billion in 2022.

“China’s population reached its peak size in 2022 and has begun to decline,” Mr. Wilmoth told a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

“Projections indicate that the size of the Chinese population could drop below one billion before the end of the century.”

All about birth rates

With nearly identical levels of fertility in 1971, just under six births per woman, the countries’ experiences half a century ago have charted their population path into the 21st century, according to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

Yemen health system ‘edging closer to collapse’ warns WHO

Yemen’s fragile health system is “severely overburdened” the World Health Organization’s (WHO) leading official for emergency operations in the country said on Friday, and more international funding is urgently needed to stop it deteriorating further.

Hopes are running high of an end to the intense fighting between a Saudi-backed coalition standing alongside Government forces, and Houthi rebels and their allies, which since 2015 has led the near total collapse of the economy, with tens of thousands killed, and 21.6 million in need of humanitarian assistance and protection this year, according to the UN.

“Nevertheless, the country’s fragile health system is severely overburdened and edging closer to collapse”, said Dr. Annette Heinzelmann of the WHO in Yemen, “while international donor funding is insufficient to avert further deterioration of the country’s failing health services.”

Acute child malnutrition

She said that around 12.9 million Yemenis have urgent humanitarian healthcare needs, with 540,000 children under five, currently suffering from severe acute malnutrition “with a direct risk of death.”

Some 46 percent of health facilities across the country are only partially functioning or completely out of service